1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to electrical terminals and more particularly to an electrical terminal allowing fully automatic assembly.
2. Description of the Prior Art
In most electrical systems the printed wiring card has become the primary means for mounting the individual components comprising the circuit. While the printed wiring cards are attractive in larger electronic systems in terms of volume production efficiency, packaging density and ease of component mounting, in systems utilizing a small number of cards, or large numbers of unique cards, are not especially attractive because of their high cost.
As an alternative to the use of printed wiring cards, individual terminals have been inserted into a dielectric terminal board to which circuit wires and the individual components are secured. The terminals are organized into rows and sometimes machine-tool distorted adjacent to the board to secure their positioning. While such an alternative is not as costly as the manufacturing of a unique printed wiring card, there are some serious disadvantages. In cases where the terminals are physically distorted to secure this position, they are not readily removable, and may distort the planar board they are inserted into. Further during the terminal placement, breaking and chipping of the board may result thereby requiring careful examination. Terminal board assemblies are expensive from the standpoint thay they are inflexible as to application since boards with different terminal spacing would be required to accommodate components of different sizes. Further the terminal boards do not readily provide the flexibility of individual component mounting and inherent physical limitations do not allow the component packaging densities attainable with printed wiring. Furthermore terminal boards do not readily adapt themselves to a bus strap. Typical prior art terminal boards are described in U.S. Pat. No. 3,116,099 which issued to I. M. Miller on Dec. 31, 1963; U.S. Pat. No. 2,533,483 to M. A. Losquadro issued Dec. 12, 1950; and U.S. Pat. No. 2,935,654 to V. S. Gittens et al which issued May 3, 1960.